I have had my SDL at the indy for an adjustment on the tranny and to check out the sunroof.

drove by today and she started up w/o a problem. Drove it around the block a couple of times and marveled at the tranny.

Went and parked it and lowered the windows to give the thumbs up sign and heard a loud clacking, like lifter noise.

Checked the oil and it may have been a quart low. Added the quart and nothing. Still tap tap tap tap tap tap.....

Got sick and frustrated and left.

The oil pressure was fine, temp was fine. very frustrating to think of another expense on a car I have barely driven 13000 miles in one year.

Maybe I'll feel better tomorrow, but now I'm aggravated.

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Enough about me, how are you doing?

Hey tapping lifters aren't that big a deal. You can live with it or change them. Shouldn't be too expensive and after all, it does have over 300K on it.... Still a nice car and cheaper than most alternatives. RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

I get to listen to my wonderfull lifters all the time! I can't wait to change them it is embarresing to be around the old diesel mechanics at the boatyard when they get going.

Try taking her for a few high rpm runs that usually helps, you need to spike the oil pressure real high that seems to quite them down.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Hang in there Plantman, Last month I spent $250. and last week I spent $285. I guess it's cheaper than a $500.00 car payment. Just think you could have that monthly payment. On cars nearly 20 years old, we'll have good days and bad ones.

Yeah you will be ahead of me! A new tranny and fresh paint, I still have those to look foward to!

Lets see I have been spending $500 a month on repairs since September, how much does a new E320 CDI cost to buy again? Monthly car payments are bad we need to keep telling ourselves that.

fyi I just priced out lifters at my local dealer yesterday. $33 each x 12 plus the gaskets. Timing chains are running $168. I wonder how much better we can do online?

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Time to rant:

The SDL has this "rapping noise" on the right front wheel that I cannot identify. It has been there for the past three months and has survived a full brake job and shock change. It seems to occur when the suspension is moving more than normal, but does not occur on every jounce. It sounds like someone is hitting the shock with a hammer wrapped in a soft blanket. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what could be making this noise.

The transmission, which usually shifts flawlessly, just decides to shift hard, just like that. Hard shifts. Then, after 75 miles of driving, it decides that the hard shifts are not to its liking and goes back to the proper medium/soft shifts, without any coaxing from me. This has gone back and forth for the past two weeks depending on the whim of the transmission (or the vacuum system, which I have not checked).

The vehicle pulls hard to the right on heavy braking. New calipers, pads, rotors, and brake hoses in the front and new pads and rotors in the rear have failed to do anything for the problem. Pisses me off.

And, to top it off, the 30 mpg that I was getting two months ago is now down to 26.5. The fuel gauge seems to move while I am watching it!!! This is in addition to the $2.29 price for diesel fuel!!! Really pisses me off.

Rant off.

Hang in there Plantman. We all suffer from "issues". Now, the Bonehead Doctor has it far worse than any of us, so we should be thankful.

I look at it this way, sure I could sell the SDL next week and buy another Camry. But I like to tinker and perfect things after about a month of doing stuff to perfect the Camry it would need nothing. That would be cool for about another few months then I would be thinking about another MB.

Plantman we have all been their, heck I still am their! Hang in their just think about how she will shine with that fresh paint!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Brian:

Jack one front wheel off the ground and see if you have any play in the steering mechanism. Loss of milage, hard pull on brakeing, and occasionall noise can be several things, but a bad tie rod end is easy to check for.

I'd also check for bad track rod bushings -- they will allow the wheel to move to the rear on braking, this will change the toe on one side, guess what happens!

Knocking on full deflection means the shocks are probably worn out. Bilsteins have a nitrogen filled "compensating piston" in the bottom that keeps the oil chamber under pressure. It will slowly rise as the oil leaks out past the piston rod seal, and when the working piston hits the compensating piston, it clonks rather noticably. It will also give a rough ride as the nitrogen pressure is fairly high. You can test the shocks by removing them and completely compressing them. Clearance between the lower rubber retainer ring (on the shaft) and the body of the shock should be less than 25 mm. If more, too much oil has leaked out, replace.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

What a bonehead! LOL

I'll hang in there, it's not like it's my primary form of transportation. I just would like to drive it around with the sunroof open in this great weather for a couple of weeks before I strip and prep for paint.

My Indy seems to think that him flushing the engine with tranny fluid will clear out any gunk and stop the noise after an oil change.

Old German trick he says. Go figure! I'll wait till I get more responses before I let him go that route.

Sometimes I think he likes to fock with my head to get a good laugh.

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Enough about me, how are you doing?

Why do lifters tap?

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Enough about me, how are you doing?

The lifters are hydraulic in that the oil is designed to pump them up so that there is no clearance. If the lifter fails to fully pump up due to clogging of internal passages, it is referred to as "collapsed" or "partially collapsed". This is when you will hear the tap because there will be clearance between the lifter and what I believe to be the rocker arm on the 603. On pushrod engines, the clearance is between the cam and the pushrod.

The tie rods were replaced on the initial trip from Florida to NY. The right side tie rod was bent.

This I have to do. Do you have a recommended procedure to check for this. I am strongly leaning to this as the problem. However, it would seem to me that an alignment rack with a pit is required to check it. Roll the vehicle onto the rack and hit the brakes while watching the front wheel and the track rod bushing??

This was my initial conclusion as well. Both shocks were replaced with Bilstein comforts. No change in noise. My current thought is that there is a possibility that the shock reaches the end of its travel when the suspension rebounds. When installing the new shocks, I noticed that the distance between the lower arm and the mounting point on the inner fenderwell is larger than the fully extended shock. When lowering the vehicle onto its wheel, this clearance is taken up, however, I do believe that there is not enough travel in the shock to allow the wheel to travel close to its lower limit. The fenderwell height is exceptionally high at 28" off the pavement. This is compounded by the weak rear springs which allow the rear fenderwell to be at 25" off the pavement.

She did that with me too every once in a while. Usually it goes away in 1-2k miles, then will come back again randomly. Don't sweat it. It's the lifters like they said.

A base priced E320 CDI is $49,795. If you pay the taxes and registration up front, put 10% down ($4800), finance at 6% for 5 years, the payments are $886 per month.

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Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

I could turn that same amount into a monthly house payment! Granted it's 30 years instead of 5 but still! I think I'd rather buy a rental property if I had that kind of extra cash lying around.

Scott

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Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)